Interesting day today....at WI I lost a lower amount of 1 and 1/2 pounds....the same loss as last week. So, my coach says that I should definitely be losing more than that, and that I need to "shake things up a little bit ". She says that she has many clients who will eat an off meal if their weight loss starts to slow, and that it has worked every time. She says it won't stop ketosis, and even told me what to have. She suggested this weekend that I substitute one of my IP dinners for: 2 soft chicken tacos, with no cheese, and that I only eat one of the tortillas, plus a handful of chips with salsa and guacamole. She says to then get right back on plan. The last client she told to do this lost 5 pounds the next weigh in, and has been losing steadily since.....hmmmmm. Also, she said if this didn't work, that the next "trick" would be to take away the restricted foods two or three times a week. I guess I didn't think it was to the point that anything needed to necessarily be fixed. Would love your thoughts....

I posted the link from Dr. Tran on what to do if you slip up one day, and it seems like one day isn't going to be enough to do too much damage. I wouldn't take this as a free card to cheat, but here's the info on what to do if you slip up one day.
I don't know if your coach's advice is good or bad. I know some people may need to do something to shake things up. My only word of caution, from someone who "fell off the wagon" is that once you start having "just a little cheat" it really is hard to get back 100% OP.

I posted the link from Dr. Tran on what to do if you slip up one day, and it seems like one day isn't going to be enough to do too much damage. I wouldn't take this as a free card to cheat, but here's the info on what to do if you slip up one day.
I don't know if your coach's advice is good or bad. I know some people may need to do something to shake things up. My only word of caution, from someone who "fell off the wagon" is that once you start having "just a little cheat" it really is hard to get back 100% OP.

I also would be hesitant to do a cheat meal in case it is hard to get back on the wagon. When my losses have stalled I have had luck mixing up how many restricteds I have per week. When I first started, I only had about 1 per week, sometimes 0. When my loss stalled my coach told me to have 1 daily. My weight loss started again! Then when I stalled again, I reduced them to a few times a week, then down to 0 for a couple of weeks. Things were back on track and this is my go-to plan if I stall again (play with the amount of restricteds I have/week). She also said that she had a client once do 2 restricteds per day to get things going again because the client wasn't having luck with other methods. To me, I think it would be best to mix things up that are on the plan before doing a cheat day.

I'm guessing you may have already tried other things to get the loss going again, but in case you haven't there are a few other things I find helpful.

1. Make sure you're getting plenty of water and more than the required amount listed on the IP sheet. I usually drink around 100 oz per day and definitely notice a stall in losses if I'm not drinking enough. Also be sure you're drinking it throughout the day rather than most of it all at once.

2. Make it a priority to get enough sleep. If I'm not getting a full night's rest I notice a slow down in weight loss. Maybe it is a coincidence but I really believe it's important.

3. Make sure you're eating throughout the day fairly regularly. There was a period of time that I was so busy that I would have a shake for breakfast, a shake for lunch, snack, and then my meat and ALL 4 cups of veggies for dinner. It didn't seem to affect me at first but eventually I stalled. I went back to the schedule that IP recommends by having 2 cups of veggies at lunch and 2 at dinner and it helped. Doing 4 at dinner isn't technically on plan but my coach said it wasn't an issue because I wasn't eating more than I was supposed to. Anyways, once I made sure I ate regularly throughout the day my losses picked up again.

Obviously some of this is speculation because I can't really give you a true cause-effect relationship because weight loss/stalls are more complex than this. I also can't control other factors or identify the one true factor that helped. I'm just sharing what seems to have worked for me.

Good luck! It'll pick up again; just takes times. Our bodies won't always consistently lose and can fight the losses at times too. Mixing things up is a good suggestion but I would be hesitant to do a cheat meal myself. I'd rather try some other things that are on plan or closer to the plan. Do what you think is best for you though!

The reason your coach says many clients lose after a cheat is because water is retained for many reasons and women have thier own special reasons we men don't enjoy ... but a big reason is stress. You eat a cheat meal, you relax and your body relaxes and you drop the water.

That said - of course a cheat meal will kick you out of ketosis if you ingest enough carbs. On the other hand ketosis doesn't really matter for fat loss.

Personally, if I was paying $$$$ to follow the IP program, I would stick with the protocol and not cheat. Besides - I care about fat loss - not weight loss.

For one, unless you are actually STALLED (as in, zero weight loss or inches lost for several WEEKS), you are going to have higher and lower weeks. A loss of 1.5lbs is absolutely acceptable, even for a few weeks in a row. How many inches have you lost in the same amount of time? That is as important as the scale numbers. IP has ELIMINATED the marketing that mentions losing 3-5lbs per week, because that is an unrealistic and skewed average for most people. You should NOT expect to lose that much every week, and neither should your coach expect it from you.

Secondly, unless you are crazy carb sensitive, removing restricted items isn't going to do a darn thing. It might actually throw you into a REAL stall. There are absolutely people for whom that TINY bit of difference in carbs actually makes a difference - but they are the people who also see a difference when they eat higher carb veggies versus lower carb ones - not just with the IP products.

Third, your coach should be looking at a hundred other things LOOONG before they dare to mention a cheat day. Do you eat almost exclusively lowest fat meats? Some people find that they get a "bump" in their losses just from eating a steak or higher fat/calorie cut of meat once or twice a week. Also make sure you are getting your salt in and drinking all of your water. Did your coach consider water retention before telling you to eat a taco? Where does your monthly cycle fall in all of this? Have you been ill/stressed/injured recently? There are SO many other factors that might reduce your losses by a little.

The discipline of this diet does actually matter. It really burns my buns when coaches rewrite the program for whatever reason.

For one, unless you are actually STALLED (as in, zero weight loss or inches lost for several WEEKS), you are going to have higher and lower weeks. A loss of 1.5lbs is absolutely acceptable, even for a few weeks in a row. How many inches have you lost in the same amount of time? That is as important as the scale numbers. IP has ELIMINATED the marketing that mentions losing 3-5lbs per week, because that is an unrealistic and skewed average for most people. You should NOT expect to lose that much every week, and neither should your coach expect it from you.

Secondly, unless you are crazy carb sensitive, removing restricted items isn't going to do a darn thing. It might actually throw you into a REAL stall. There are absolutely people for whom that TINY bit of difference in carbs actually makes a difference - but they are the people who also see a difference when they eat higher carb veggies versus lower carb ones - not just with the IP products.

Third, your coach should be looking at a hundred other things LOOONG before they dare to mention a cheat day. Do you eat almost exclusively lowest fat meats? Some people find that they get a "bump" in their losses just from eating a steak or higher fat/calorie cut of meat once or twice a week. Also make sure you are getting your salt in and drinking all of your water. Did your coach consider water retention before telling you to eat a taco? Where does your monthly cycle fall in all of this? Have you been ill/stressed/injured recently? There are SO many other factors that might reduce your losses by a little.

The discipline of this diet does actually matter. It really burns my buns when coaches rewrite the program for whatever reason.

Scorbett is completely right about this. She knows a lot of the chemistry behind things and health...but any lay person could also see that your coach is not the smartest to offer this up. You're not stalled, you had a lower week, but still had a good loss. There's also, like Scorbett said, a bunch of other factors that could be the cause for lower than you've had. Don't do the cheat day.

I don't know if it is right or wrong to cheat just to shake things up - this diet is so expensive, it is so hard to get back on track, been there done that, and regretted it - I always say cheating is a choice because the one who suffers on getting back on it is the cheater.

Thanks so much to all of you for your replies....love the feedback. I'll try to answer all the questions here.

I have been 100% OP since day 1 and plan on staying that way, not a single lick, bite, or chew of anything ever, over the course of numerous celebrations, vacations, etc. I was pretty surprised at what she was suggesting myself, and was actually defending my weight loss to her (which I've had to do before), but she insisted something "must be wrong" since my loss was lower than 3 pounds...geez.

My water intake is great, my meals are low fat and perfectly measured and spaced out, my salt is measured, my sleep is uninterrupted and at least seven hours....I've not been I'll or injured, TOM is normal and not due for another week.

Thanks so much to all of you for your replies....love the feedback. I'll try to answer all the questions here.

I have been 100% OP since day 1 and plan on staying that way, not a single lick, bite, or chew of anything ever, over the course of numerous celebrations, vacations, etc. I was pretty surprised at what she was suggesting myself, and was actually defending my weight loss to her (which I've had to do before), but she insisted something "must be wrong" since my loss was lower than 3 pounds...geez.

My water intake is great, my meals are low fat and perfectly measured and spaced out, my salt is measured, my sleep is uninterrupted and at least seven hours....I've not been I'll or injured, TOM is normal and not due for another week.

If anything, I may try the steak thing...I am guilty of eating the same foods over and over with no variety to speak of.

You are all like support, understanding, teaching, and motivation in my pocket...or at my fingertips rather.

I think you've got the right instincts, especially if she's just looking for something to be wrong because the scale didn't show 3lbs gone. Sounds like you are working the plan for everything it's worth, and it seems to be working fantastically for you - 52.5lbs is awesome!

Tell your coach to do the math... 52.5 or 53lbs in 16 weeks equals an average of just over 3lbs a week. I'd say you are doing awesome.

This!
And I'm with Scorbett. So many coaches make me
EVEN if your coach IS looking at the old 3-5 lbs/week claim, it was an AVERAGE. Does your coach not understand math?
Not everyone loses this much every week but this plan is STILL FASTER than any other plan I've done (including Atkins over the long-term)

I'm averaging over 2 lbs/week and nobody has any prob with my losses.
There are other factors such as age, health conditions, amt of stress, etc.

Keep up the great work & don't listen to the crazy. Sometimes I think they want to extend the diet for more $$$

Eat a steak ... It is still OP and won't throw you out of ketosis like the Mexican food will, but has enough fat to let your body know there is no famine. Lots of folks have reported that a steak works for them.